Separator



Sept. 27, 1960 R. N. YOUNG 2,954,124

' SEPARATOR Filed Feb. 6, 1957 INVENT OR ROY N. YOU/V6 BY M; @042 ATTORNEYS .1 Peseta-ed Sept. 27, 1960' SEPARATOR Roy N. Young, 3 NorthwoodRoad, Asheville, NC. Filed Feb. 6, 195 1,.Ser. No. 638,571

"'4 Claims.' C l. 209-93 This invention relates to a separator and more particularly to a separator adapted to perform a plurality of separations'in one. operation. Y

The device of this invention embodies two well known principles, namely, that. a pieceof. material approaching asphere ,or a cube in shape will tend to roll down a slope more readily thana flat piece,..and secondly, a sliver-like or a flat piece of .material. when movingdown a sloping surface ,willtendlto acquire a position with the long dimension parallelto the surface and will tend to slide rather than roll.

; In view-of the above it is anobject of this invention to provide a separator embodyingbotli of these principles to perform a plurality of separations in one operation.

Another object is to provide a separator adapted to separate sliver-like and flat pieces from other shaped pieces of material and further separate the material into fractions with regard to size in one separating operation.

Yet another object is to provide a separator having a series of parallel, inclined slats forming a separating unit which slopes longitudinally and laterally.

A further object is to provide a separator as in the preceding object which is vibrated to assist in separating the material passing over and through the separator slats.

These and other objects will become apparent in view of the following detailed description and drawing, showing by way of example a preferred embodiment of this invention and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the entire separator and particularly showing the parallel inclined slats forming the separating unit and the longitudinal and lateral slope of said unit; and

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the inclination of the parallel slats with respect to each other and the separating unit.

In general this separator comprises a plurality of spaced, parallel inclined slats forming a separating unit having both longitudinal and lateral slope so that, for example, an aggregate comprising generally round and flat pieces may be separated thereby. The flat pieces will slide on the slats down the direction of longitudinal slope and thereby align themselves so that they will pass through the spaces between the inclined slats in the direction of the lateral slope. In addition round pieces of sufliciently large diameter will roll over the upper edges of the inclined slats in the direction of lateral slope while round pieces of smaller diameter will not roll over these edges and will roll down the slats in the direction of longitudinal slope. By this means it is possible to separate out the flat pieces and in addition separate the generally round pieces into two size categories.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the separator comprises a housing 10 which includes side walls 12 and 14, a back wall 16 and bottom braces 18 on both ends of the bottom of the housing. The housing is suspended by rods 20 connected to the housing by-brackets 22, said rods being secured to any suitable type of overhead mounting.

The rods may have their lower ends threaded to receive a nut as indicated at 24 in Fig. 2 to provide means for varying the, longitudinal and lateral slope of the housing. This adjustability may also be provided by turnbuckles or other length adjusting means in the rods themselves.

It will be noted that the side ,wall 12 and back wall 16 are formed to provide a projecting portion 26 having a bottom 28 thus. forming an apron at the upper end of the housing where thefmaterial to be separated is introduced. j

The separating unit 30 comprises a plurality of spaced parallel inclined slats 32, each having an upper face 35 and a lower face 37, said slats being carried by suitable cross members 34, one on each end of the group of slats. This unit is placed in the housing 10 so that it slopes downwardly from rear to front and laterally downward from side member 12 toward side member 14, the slats being disposed with their longitudinal axes running fore and aft with respect to the housing.

In addition, the slats are tilted about their longitudinal axes so that their upper edges 33 face the high side of the lateral slope. Since all of the slats are in spaced parallelrelation this tilting produces long narrow openings 36,'between adjacent slats, running parallel to the longitudinal axes of'the slats. V

In order to aid in the'separating action at least vertical vibrations are impressed upon the separating unit by vibrating the'housingcarrying the unit. This vibrating means includes a transverse shaft 38 rotatably carried by side members 12 and 14. Eccentric weight elements 40 are carried on this shaft adjacent each end thereof. A motor 42 transmits rotary motion to shaft 38 through motor pulley 44, belt 46 and shaft pulley 48 mounted on one end of the shaft 38.

A transverse shield 50 extends between side members 12 and 14 to protect shaft 38 and an appropriately shaped guard 52 is secured to the outer face of side member 14 to protect the motor pulley arrangement from falling material produced by the separating operation.

The material to be separated is fed to the separator by means of a conveyor 54 positioned adjacent the upper edge of the intersection of the side member 12 and the back member 16.

In use, material comprising flat pieces and, round or generally round pieces of varying size are fed down the conveyor 54 into the upper end of the separating unit 30. With the vibrating means in operation the separating unit is vibrating in a vertical direction thereby imparting movement to the pieces of material thereon. As the pieces move over the slats the fiat pieces slide along in the direction of the longitudinal slope and laterally through the narrow openings between the slats, as indicated by arrows A in Fig. 2. The larger generally round pieces roll over the upturned edges of the slats and pass off in the direction of the lateral slope of the separating unit, as shown by arrows B in Figs. 1 and 2. The smaller generally round pieces do not roll over the upturned edges of the slats and therefore roll downwardly on the slats in the direction of the longitudinal slope, as illustrated by the arrows C in Fig. 1. Thus the mixture has been separated into flat and generally round pieces having a dimension less than the opening between adjacent slats and generally round pieces of two diiferent sizes.

The sizes of material segregated in this type of separator depends largely on the inclination of the slats about their longitudinal axes since this controls the width of the opening between adjacent slats. This distance of one upper edge from the trailing portion of the adjacent slat controls the diameter of material which Will pass over the raised slat edges in the direction of lateral slope. It is contemplated that the separating units will be interchangeable so that units having slat arrangements with various sized openings will be furnished whereby various classes of separations may be accomplished. p

The longitudinal and lateral slope of the separating unit also afiects the separation to some extent and to this end the housing, as previously discussed, is so mounted that these slopes may be varied.

In view of the foregoing it is obvious that the device of this invention is useful in performing a'plurality of separations at one time in an efiicient and rapid manner. This separator is economical to manufacture and quite reasonable in expense of operation.- 7

What I claim as novel and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A separator for performing a pluralityofiseparations at the same time, said separator comprising a plurality of spaced parallel slats forming a separating unit, said unit being longitudinally inclined from one end to the other and also laterally from one'side to the other, the slats each having a lower and an upper face, said slats being tilted about their longitudinal axes in the direction of lateral slope to an extent greater than the lateral slope of the unit so that the upper edge of each slat faces the high side of the lateral slope of the unit thus forming a stepped arrangement wherein the lower face of one slat is spaced from the upper face of the slat immediately thereabove.

2. A separator for performing a plurality of separations at the same time, said separator comprising a plurality of spaced parallel slats forming a-separating unit, said unit being longitudinally inclined from one end to the other and also laterally from one side to the other,

4 means for supporting said unit in this position, the slats each having a lower and an upper face, said slats extending longitudinally from end to end in the separating unit and being tilted about their longitudinal axes in the direction of lateralslope to an extent greater than the lateral slope of the unit so that the upper longitudinal edge of each slat faces the high side of the lateral slope of the unit thus forming a stepped arrangement wherein the lower face of one slat is spaced from the upper face of the slat immediately thereabove.

3. The device as described in claim 2 wherein the means for supporting the separator unit includes means for varying the longitudinal and lateral slope of the separating unit carried thereby.

4. The device a's described in c1aiin'2 and including means for vibrating the separator unit to increase the speed of separation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

